Global Rice News

As the harvesting of aromatic rice continues, farmers complain of low basmati yield. Let’s find out whether the hot temperature has lowered the output of basmati or something else.

Yield Down by 50% Per Acre

Several farmers in the Majha region of Punjab including Tarn Taran, Amritsar, and Gurdaspur districts complain that basmati output this time is just 8 to 14 quintals this year. The market officials stated that the average yield is around 12-13 quintals per acre against 23-24 quintals previous year. Vijay Kalra, president of Federation Arhtiya Association Punjab, asserted that not even a single farmer has come to the market with full yield yet.  In addition to this, the prices have dropped from Rs 2,500-2700 per quintal to Rs 2,000-1,650.

Early Sowing- the Cause for a Decline in Yield

While farmers are holding high temperature responsible for a lower yield, experts opine the ‘wrong time sowing’ has brought down the net. That said, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has confirmed that the weather was almost the same as last year. Citing the low basmati yield, experts explain that PUSA 1509 takes around  115-120 days to mature. Amritsar Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO) Dr Gurdial Singh Bal explained that farmers had started sowing basmati from May end and completed it by early June owing to the pandemic. Further, he adds that basmati is always planted after 10-15 days of paddy sowing, which did not happen this time. Also, he mentions that farmers that sowed later are getting better yields.

Tarn Taran CAO Dr Kuljit Singh Saini explained that early sowing brought the graining stage earlier when days are still long and warm. However, basmati requires longer nights for the proper development of grain. Farmers sowed PUSA 1509 first and hence are facing losses.

Other Varieties of Basmati

Apart from PUSA 1509, Punjab grows PUSA 1121 variety in 60% of the area. This is a better variety but has a more extended maturity period ranging from 140-145 days. However, it has accounted for the maximum exports of aromatic rice from India since 2008. That apart, a new variety, PUSA 1718 by Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) is also gaining popularity for its ten days shorter maturity period than PUSA 1121, disease resistance, and low pesticide demand.

In all, experts account early sowing of basmati for farmers’ losses.

Source: https://www.grainmart.in/news/low-basmati-yield-in-punjab-hot-weather-or-something-else/